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Talkhouse

In the Ojibway language, the word Zoongide’ewin means “bravery, courage, the Bear Spirit.” It’s no wonder then that Daniel Monkman adopted Zoon as his musical moniker. The Hamilton-based musician has spent the better part of his 28 years channelling that strength to overcome such adversities as racism, poverty, and addiction. Music saved Monkman’s life, and now he wants to share his story. His debut album, Bleached Wavves, will be out on June 19 on Paper Bag Records.

Zoon

Music

Introducing: Zoon’s “Vibrant Colours”

Bartees Strange was born in Ipswich, a town in Suffolk, England. His family did stints in Germany, Greenland, and a number of states across America before he hit his 12th birthday when they settled in Mustang, Oklahoma. Bartees began producing music for friends with a small project studio he built out of a Tascam 388, the family computer and a pirated copy of FL Studio. Through AOL instant messenger, Bartees connected with old friends in the UK, who brought him up to speed on a new world of sonic influence led by Bloc Party, Burial, Robyn and Skream. College, and a half-decade stint in Brooklyn connected him with the rising indie scene — particularly favorites like Bon Iver, TV on The Radio, Frank Ocean, James Blake, King Krule, Japanese Breakfast, Mt. Kimbie, Mitski, Thao Nguyen, and The National, giving him a crash course in lyrical intrigue and textural brilliance.
Say Goodbye to Pretty Boy is a summary of his influences and the first commercial release by an artist who we truly think can go on to become a cultural influencer in his own right. Bartees resides in Washington, DC — where makes music and works at a non profit fighting against climate change and poverty.
(Photo Credit: Bao Ngo)

Bartees Strange

Introducing: Bartees Strange’s “About Today”

EDGESLAYER is a multi disciplinary visual and music artist based in New Orleans.

Edge Slayer

Edge Slayer and Jasmine Infiniti Talk Voices, Vockah Redu, and New Orleans

Mo Troper is a power-pop artist from Portland, Oregon, who just released his fourth album Dilettante.

Mo Troper

Mo Troper Wants to Make Beautiful Art About Binge Eating

It’s hard to survive in the music business, but Peter Bjorn and John have done that and then some. The Swedish indie-pop trio have been triumphing via their pitch-perfect alchemy of varying sounds and styles for two decades now, and their ninth album Endless Dream is proof of the unique creative chemistry that Peter Morén, Bjorn Yttling, and John Eriksson have successfully worked with for so long. Every PB&amp;J album sounds liked falling in love with music for the first time, and the deceptively light confections contained on Endless Dream continue with the trio’s latest romance, the Endless Play EP.
(Photo Credit: Johan Bergmark)

Peter Bjorn and John

Introducing: Peter Bjorn and John’s “Drama King”

Heart Bones is a collaboration between Sean Tillmann (aka Har Mar Superstar) and Sabrina Ellis (A Giant Dog/Sweet Spirit). The two became fast friends while touring together in 2016. They recognized a kindred quality of over-the-top showmanship, and their new project became inevitable. Throughout 2018 the duo have been alternating visits to each other’s hometowns of Minneapolis and Austin to co-write original material. Inspired by their favorite classic duos such as Nancy Sinatra &amp; Lee Hazelwood, Serge Gainsbourg &amp; Jane Birkin, Sonny &amp; Cher, and Sam &amp; Dave, their influences have spanned everything from doo wop, classic duets, musical theater, electro dance, and melancholy pop.
(Photo Credit: Jackson Schwartz)

Heart Bones

Introducing: Heart Bones’ (Har Mar Superstar + A Giant Dog) “Open Relations”

Alice Boman is a singer-songwriter from Malmo, Sweden.
(Photo Credit: Märta Thisner)

Alice Boman

Introducing: Alice Boman’s “Don’t Forget About Me”

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<div>Roger Harvey is a songwriter born and raised in rural Pennsylvania. His music calls to mind an earlier era of song-centered singers like Willie Nelson, John Prine, and Neil Young. Roger has spent much of his life traveling and playing music but has recently laid roots in Philadelphia.</div>
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Roger Harvey

Introducing: Roger Harvey’s “Raining In LA”

<div dir="auto">Nik Freitas has always been on his own wavelength. The 41-year-old songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer has had a fruitful yet underrated career in myriad sects of the entertainment industry. In the early 2000s he worked as a photographer at Thrasher Magazine; a few years later he was a touring musician in acts like Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band and Broken Bells; and for the last decade he’s been scoring TV shows, movies and commercials for a living. However, throughout all of those creative ventures, Freitas has identified as a songwriter above all else.</div>
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<div dir="auto">On 1/31/20 he’ll release his ninth album under his own name, Cavalo Morto, via Park The Van. The title means “dead horse” in Portuguese and the album’s gloomy cover art depicts a weathered pianist chugging along at his craft while horses fall from the top of the instrument. It’s a reference to the inescapable mundanity of being a professional artist, a glamorized yet often underappreciated vocation that can wear on a person’s soul if they do it long enough. Although the dead horse is sort of a metaphor for Freitas’ lifelong struggle to be heralded for his own art, there’s a healthy dose of irony in that sentiment. Cavalo Morto is an invigorating set of songs that conflate the classic pop songwriting of Dylan, Bowie, and Elliott Smith with Freitas’ own hermetic twist.</div>
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<div dir="auto">(Photo Credit: Jai Tanju)</div>

Nik Freitas

Introducing: Nik Freitas’s “Flowers”

<div>Legal Vertigo is a Montreal artist who is preparing to release his debut LP, Tragic Future Film Star. Though this is his first release under the name he has become well known in the Montreal scene for his work as a producer, most prominently on Operators&#8216; well-received 2019 album Radiant Dawn, and has shared the stage with artists like Alvvays, Wolf Parade, U.S. Girls, Basia Bulat, Bob Odenkirk, and Operators. Tragic Future Film Star will be released on Dine Alone on November 15.</div>

Legal Vertigo

Introducing: Legal Vertigo’s “Napster Vertigo”

<div class="c-message__content c-message__content--feature_sonic_inputs" data-qa="message_content">For more than two decades now Giants Chair records have lived on turntables, blasted through car speakers, rattled apartment walls, destroyed headphones, and finally become recognized as the timeless artifacts of emotional experience and endeavor that they are for so many people. Now, in perfect time, 2019 marks the return of Giants Chair with the release of the bands highly-anticipated new album on Spartan Records, Prefabylon. With all of the the band’s original core components and members still intact, listeners needn’t brace for any departure from the band’s signature post-punk DNA. Equal parts early new wave, skate punk, prog, political folk, and &#8217;70s and &#8217;80s radio rock, Giants Chair’s influences can be traced across their now ‘era-transcending’ catalogue.</div>
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Giants Chair

Introducing: Giants Chair’s “Kids Running”

<div>Between days at a slew of odd jobs- running a vintage store, on the line at a record manufacturing plant, bartending at a hometown hole-in-the-wall) Diane Jean founded Clever Girls — a quartet formed in the drunken dives of Burlington, Vermont. Diane’s quirky outlook buoys the band’s writing, but together, the group creates hard-hitting, emotional pop- never slipping into diaristic monotony. Clever Girls as a group will elicit the same emotion and nostalgia that Diane seeks to find in their day jobs; the music will live somewhere between straight forward rock &amp; roll of bygone eras and dusty, moth eaten grunge pop. </div>

introducing